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Using... uh... 'opinions' from other people.

I think that you can as long as you don't use real names and places and or real people's names. People use the bible everyday to benefit their own causes. Consider Dan Brown who wrote The Da Vinci Code and Also Angels and Demons--both good reads by the way,most people already know how I stand towards religion but I always love a good read. Dan Brown uses not only the church but went one father and used the vatican and the catholic religion and it has caused quite a stir but I haven't heard of him being sued and he uses real people (although most are dust in their graves now).

You might consider doing some reading of religious texts and/or books like Brown's to get a feel for how he did it,not to copy his style of course,but to see how you can incorporate the church and its religious holdings in your story;then add a little magic dust and your book will read well enough to be believable and yet you can set your worries aside because it is a work of fiction.

I would suggest not using the book you write as a ranting outlet unless your going for the media circus type of thing and then people will label you a religious fanatic/be concise and straightforward and know your facts,so that your book is an airtight piece of material and only the fanatics attack it because,well--they're fanatics. Be aware of the controversies that writing such a book will stir up--Dan Brown probably never thought his book would take off in the way that it did.

Ultimately,it is a book of fiction that you are writing but all the nutcases against and for your kind of book will come out of the woodwork if it ever gets published--be clear,concise,and honest in your writing and use reasoning--think things through and you can't lose.

Your book sounds like it's going to be a good one and I like your idea--hmmm...I would consider using your idea and creating my own book but,I won't. Good luck with your writing.

You're welcomed,anytime--you caught me at a caffeine hit--And I am 'talking' too much.

It's fine. Although you might mention in the foreword that it IS a work of fiction. (People seemed to forget that when reading Dan Brown's work- lol)

A suggestion would be- using someone as an Anti-christ, to make it something the church would really have to be concerned about.

Ugh! I'm such a teenager! When you wrote "religious text" for a second I thought you meant a text from a cell phone... I was thinking that no one would really start a revolution over a text message and then it hit me and now I feel stupid...
Anyway, to answer the original question... I think that some psychopath would come at you with an axe, but I don't think you get could sued or anything if it was strictly a fictional novel. But this is just a guess.